Trailing badly in the polls and facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat in his home state of Pennsylvania, Mr Santorum used Gettysburg, the site of the bloodiest battle of the American civil war, to announce his withdrawal.
"We made the decision to get into this race at our kitchen table against all the odds and we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race is over for me - and we will suspend our campaign effective today - we're not done fighting," he said.
While he used his brief appearance to attack President Barack Obama, the one-time candidate did not offer any endorsement of Mr Romney, who faces an open road to the Republican nomination.
The former Pennsylvania senator said he had "tried to be a witness" to the struggles of America's middle class and a voice for social conservatives.
"Even when they said we couldn't win, we were winning because we were touching hearts and raising issues that frankly a lot of people didn't want raised," he said. Read on and comment » | Raf Sanchez | Washington | Tuesday, April 10, 2012
My comment:
Rick Santorum is a handsome man who speaks eloquently. Pity is that he is too conservative, too religious, and too frozen in time. Were he to loosen up a little, and leave some of his ante-diluvian ideas behind him, he'd be a very serious contender for the White House. One can only wish him well even if one is relieved that he is out of the race. – © Mark
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TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le républicain Rick Santorum jette l'éponge : Le candidat ultraconservateur suspend sa campagne pour l'investiture républicaine, laissant la voie libre au favori Mitt Romney pour devenir le candidat qui affrontera Barack Obama en novembre. » | AP/Newsnet | mardi 10 avril 2012
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Santorum macht Weg für Romney frei: Das Rennen der Republikaner um den Herausforderer des amtierenden US-Präsidenten ist so gut wie entschieden. Rick Santorum verkündete am Dienstag seinen Rückzug. Jetzt wird Multimillionär Mitt Romney gegen Barack Obama antreten. » | aar/fab/Reuters/dpa/AP/AFP | Dienstag, 04. April 2012
